Flat fee of $2/hour coming to Vancouver Chinatown street parking as part of revitalization plan

A new, flat rate of $2 per hour is coming to parking meters in Vancouver's Chinatown starting June 1.

City council approved the move as a pilot project to support its plan to revitalize the neighbourhood.

Currently, street parking ranges from $1 per hour to $5 per hour in the daytime, and from $1 to $3 per hour in the evenings.

The city said it heard from 250 Chinatown businesses and organizations who asked for the fixed price and said the current situation of different rates in different blocks was confusing.

The $2 per hour flat fee pilot will run through Dec. 31, 2024. Better commercial vehicles access, increasing parking supply and improving safety in the Chinatown EasyPark lot will also be studied.

Metered street parking in the neighbourhood is in effect from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The nearly $1 million Uplifting Chinatown Action Plan proposes better cleaning, sanitation and graffiti abatement to help address some of the neighbourhood's long standing challenges, along with beautification projects and parking review.

In February, the federal government pledged $1.8 million to support improvements after an increase in graffiti, vandalism, property crime and anti-Asian racism during the pandemic.

Vancouver's Chinatown is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city and the largest Chinatown in Canada.